Gas engine



E. V. MYERS Dec. 1, 1925- GAS ENGINE Original Filed Aug. 14, 1911 5 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR By Alla/7163 3, flMM/L WM WITNESSES:

Dec 1,11925- E. v. MYERS GAS ENGINE Original Filed Aug. 14, 1911 3 Sheets$heet 2 mp/wn'm INVENTOR WITNESSES:

Dec. 1, 1925- E. V. MYERS GAS ENGINE Original Filed Aug. 14 1911 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR WITNESSES:

Patented Dec. 1, 1925.

UNITED STATES- PATENT OFFICE.

EUGENE V. MYERS, OF EAST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY.

GAS ENGINE.

Application filed. August 14, 1911, Serial No. 643,820. Renewed May 6, 1922. Serial No. 559,058.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, EUGENE V. MYERS, a citizen of the United States, residing in East Orange, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gas Engines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to gas engines, particularly of the four-cycle type.

Among the objects of the invention are (1) the provision of a single valvegover'ning the intake and exhaust, such valve being preferably of the piston type; (2) the provision of a gas engine wherein there is an absolute scavenging; that is to say, that all the spent gases are expelled from the engine cylinder; (3) the provision of a gas engine in which at each intake stroke there is an increased body mixture taken into the cylinder, preferably equalling or nearly equalling the cylinder capacity plus the compression space; (4) the provision of a gas engine in which the capacity of the compression space may be altered to correspond with a given intake mixture.

Preferably all the features are embodied in a single construction, although it will be understood that each may be separately availed of, without departing from the 1nvention.

In the drawings I have shown several forms of gas engine embodying the invention.

Fig. 1 is a central vertical section of one form of the invention, the parts being shown in one position;

Fig. 2 is a similar section of the same form, the parts being shown in another'position; A

Fig. 3 .is a central vertical section of another form;

Fig. 4 is a similar view showing the parts in a different position;

Fig. 5 is a diagram of the movements of the valve and-piston of Figs. 1 and 2;

Fig. 6 is a diagram of the movements of the valve and piston of- Figs. 3 and 4;

Fig. 7 is one form of a cam used with Figs. 1 and 2; v

F i 8 is a form of cm used with Figs. 3 an 4. t

Fig. 9 is a side elevation of a two-cylinder engine, embodying one form of the invention.

Referring to Fig. 1, A is an engine cylinder, B the ordinary piston, and C a valve. The valve C preferably operates in the engine cylinder, and the cylinder preferably has an intake port D and an exhaust port E. The valve C is provided with a number of piston rings as shown and inlet and outlet ports D E. The piston valve C is also provided 'with an operating rod F which is movedupwardly bya. spring G and downwardly by a cam H. The cam H may be adapted to produce both movements if desired. Referring to Fig. 1, it will be seen that the piston valve is in position where the outlet port E is in communication with the outlet port E. In this position the piston valve is near the end of its downward stroke, and its lower face may substantiallymeet the upper face of the piston B, which at this time is near the end of its exhaust stroke. Only sufiicient clearance to avoid contact need be permitted. Hence the exhaust gases are substantially entirely expelled from the cylinder. As soon as the exhaust stroke is completed and the piston starts down on its intake stroke, the piston valve moves to a position in which the port D alines with the port D. The mixture is hence admitted under the suction of the piston. This position is maintained by the piston valve until the piston B is at the end of its intake stroke, whereupon the piston valve may move to the "position of Fig. 2, wherein the inlet port is closed. During the relative movements of the piston valve and piston before the inlet port is opened, a suction is produced between the valve and piston which, when the inlet port is open, causes the inlet mixture to rush'in. This largely increases the amount of intake mixture, since practically speaking a body of mixture is taken in which not onlyl equals the capacity of the cylinder fromt e high point of the piston to its low point, but in addition the mixture is taken in which practically "fills is maintained until during the compression and firing strokes. At the end of the firing stroke the valve moves down again to exhaust position shown in Fig. 1. The shaft carrying the cam H is preferably a halfspeed shaft, motion being preferably taken from the main shaft of the engine, in any suitable'wa The cam employed in the construction of Figs. 1 and 2 ma be that shown in Fig. 7. A practical deve opment of this cam is shown in Fig. 5, which is a diagram showing the movements of the valve and the movements of the piston. This diagram needs no further explanation.

It will be seen that in Figs. 1 and 2 the shock of compression and firing is taken by the cylinder head against which the iston valve rests during compression and ring. Preferably a wear ring I is interposed at this point against which the piston valve makes contact.

In Figs. 3. and 4 the construction of Figs. 1 and 2 is slightly-changed. 'Here the piston valve L is provided with an inlet port J and an exhaust port K. The engine cylinder is lprovided with an inlet port J and an exaust port K. Instead ofthe piston valve movin to the top part of its stroke to close the in ct port as in Figs; '1 and 2, the inlet port is opened at the top of its stroke and closed by a downward movement of the piston valve, as shown in Fig.4. Fig. 4 may taken as representing the position of the piston valve at the point of maximum compression space which corresponds to the ordinary running of the engine at high efliciency. If now it is desired to proportion the efliciency' of the engine to the load, it is necessary first that'the amount of mixture taken into-the cylinder is reduced, and second, that the compression space is reduced. The amount. of mixture might be reduced by auxili'ary or outside mechanism, but it is preferred that the piston valve not only controls the compression space, but also the intake of mixture. Hence the cam L is movable with relation to its shaft in a longitudinal direction, and its faces are so proportioned that it controls the movement of the piston valveto cut off the intake of mixture, and to depress the valve to the required extent to provide the proper compression space for the charge which has been taken in. By referenceto Fig. 6 it will be seen that at the end of the exhaust stroke the valve rises to the intake position. It is held at this position .during the descent of the piston until the proper quantity of mixture has been taken in. It is then depressed to close the inlet port' and bring the piston valve to the point where it provides the pr%per compression space. Thus the line a in shows that t e valvehas been held open until practicalthe end ofthe intake stroke. It is then epressed to close the intake port, and to such a degree that the maximum compression s ace is attained (such-as Fig. 4 for instance The line b in Fig. 6 indicates that the valve is closed before the piston reaches the end of its intake stroke and the piston valve is depressed further so that the compression space is less. The lines 0 and (1 show progressively less intake and smaller compression space. Fig. 8 illustrates a cam adapted to produce these results. In this figure the letters a b 0 (l corres 0nd to the same letters in Fig. 6. The gra uated faces of the cam may be. on a single incline or a succession of inclines.

In Fig. 9 is shown one embodiment of the invention as. applied to a two-cylinder engine. Inthis gure the cam shaft Q is driven by a shaft Q, through bevelled gears as shown, and the cams R R are mounted upon a sliding sleeve S which has slots S within which work pins S fixed to the shaft Q. At one end of the sliding sleeve S is fixed a grooved member T engaged by a pin T carried by the hand lever U. The lever U is pivoted at V and has a hand catch V engaging a fixed sector W. By this construction the cams R B may be adjusted at once by hand to the pro r position depending u n the wer whic the engine is requ red to deve op. The provision of a hand controlled or quickly acting device, such as the lever U, 13 of great importance in adjusting the engine to the amount of power required for a given duty. This adjustment may be made at once under the volition of the operator, and when the engine is set to a certain dut it will not fluctuate until intentionally a justed. Various features of the invention may, however, be availed of in case it is desired to operate the sleeve by a governor.

In' the foregoing drawings the showing is largelydiagrammatic, and the forms shown are illustrative rather than practical. Manydiflerent arrangements of ports can be adopted to secure the results attained. The piston :valve may be o rated by a cam or other suitable mechanism directly or indirectly, which cams or other mechanism in the construction of Figs. 3 and 4 should be of sufiicient stren h to stand the shock of compression and ring. As before stated, the cams may be constructed to raise as well as lower the piston valve; or the cams may raise the valve and the spring lower it; or two cams may be used, one to raise and the other tolower the piston.

To provide for ignition, the piston valve may have a recess M which will fit over the spark p u N which is fixed to the side of t e cy in er. Any other arrangement of ignition may be provided. The cylinder heads ma have free passages to atmosphere if desired i It is not necessary that the part of the cylinder in which the piston valve works should be the full diameter of the cylinder within which the piston works. the piston valve move up or down, it may be Ill Instead of having stroke, and the piston shaped accordingly.

A check valve may be placed either in the exhaust or in the intake to prevent back I pressure. p The ports maybe made very narrow in a vertical direction and wlde 1n a horizontal direction so as to secure the requlsite area. .As far as the exhaust rt is concerned, as the s ent mixture is riven positively ,through it, there does not exist the same necessity for a large port as in the present constructions. By the construction of Figs. 3 and 4 the speed as well as the eflicieneiyof the engine may be controlled, thus avoi ing the use of variable gearing.

I claim as my invention 1. In a gas engine, the combination of a cylinder and piston, and a piston valve for reducing or avoiding the normal compression space during the exhaust stroke of the engine, said, valve co-operating solely. with ports in the cylinder walls.

2. In a gas engine, the combination of a cylinder and piston, and a piston valve gov ernin the exhaust, said valve-reducing or avoidmg the normal compression space during the exhaust stroke of the engine and said va ve co-operating solely with ports in the cylinder walls.

3. In a gas engine, the combination of a cylinder and piston, and a piston-valve governing the intake, said valve reducing or avoiding the compression space during the exhaust stroke of the engine, said valve cooperating solely with ports in the cylinder walls.

4. In a gas engine, a cylinder and a piston, said engine having a space into which the charge is compressed, hand-operated means for varying such space, and for varying the Quantity of mixture taken into said cylin er, said means acting to make said variations proportionally by varying the period during which the inlet port is opened.

5. In a gas engine, a cylinder, anda piston, said engine having a space into which the charge is compressed, quickl operable means for varying such space," an for varying the quantity of mixture taken into sald cylinder, said means acting to make said variations proportionally by varying the period during which the inlet port is opened.

6. In a gas engine, a cylinder, and a piston, said engine having a space into which the charge is compressed, and a single means for varying such space and varying the quantity of mixture taken into said cylinder, by varying the period during which the inlet port is opened.

7. In a gas engine, the combination of a cylinder and a piston, said engine having a space into which the charge is compressed,

movement, and being and a single piston-valve adapted to cooperate solely with ports in the cylinder walls and said piston valve being adapted to adjust the normal capacity of said space. 8. In a gas engine, means for firing a charge of explosive mixture, said engine having a space in which said mixture is fired, and positive means for varying the capacity of such space, said means acting tovary the period during which the inlet port is opened to make proportional the quantity of mixture introduced, whereby diflerent charges may be fired at their most effective pressures.

9. In a gas engine, the combination of a cylinder and a piston, said engine having a space in which the charge is compressed, means for adjusting the quantity of mixture introduced into the cylinder by varying the period durin which the inlet port is opened, means for a justing the normal capacity of said compression space, said two means acting proportionally, and a. manually operable means for controlling the operation thereof.

10. In a gas engine, the combination of a cylinder and a piston, of means acting in one position to reduce or avoid the compression space whereb to secure better scavenging and in anot er position to vary the compression space at the end of the compression stroke and a single means for op erating said means) 11. In a gas engine, the combination of a cylinder and a power piston, of a second piston movable to a position close to the power piston on its exhaust stroke and away from the power piston on the compression stroke, and a single means for effecting both said movements, said single means varying the last named position of said second pistonwhereby the size of the compression chamber may be altered to suit various charges of mixture or to produce various degrees of compression.

122 In a gas engine, the combination of a cylinder and a iston, said engine having a space into whic the charge is compressed, and a piston valve, said piston valve alone being adapted to control the intake and exhaust solely by itsown movement, and being adapted to vary such space, such varia-v tion being independent of that produced bydthe varying displacement of the piston ro 13. In a gas engine, the combination of a cylinder and a piston, and a piston valve, said piston valve being adaptedto control the intake and exhaust solely by its own adapted to move toward the piston durmg'the. exhaust stroke, and to expel an amount of exhaust gas substantially. equal to its displacement during such movement.

14. In a gas engine, a cylinder and apiston, said engine having a space into which the charge is compressed, and quickly operable hand-operated means for varying such space, said means comprising a cam of varying cross-sections transverse to its axis of rotation and a lever for sliding the cam along such axis.

15. In a gas engine, a cylinder, a piston,

and a'variable cut-ofi valve for expelling substantially all of the exhaust gases therefrom, and means for moving said valve so that the piston is in close proximity thereto duringthe exhaust stroke.

16. In a gas engine, a cylinder, a piston, and a variable cut-ofi' piston valve for expelling substantially all of the exhaust gases therefrom, and means for moving said valve so that-the piston is in close proximity there-'- to during the exhaust stroke.

17. In a gas engine, the combination of a cylinder, a piston, and a iston valve, said piston valve adapted to e adjusted with respect to-said piston while .the engine is running, whereby the comdpression space of said engine maybe varie 18. In a gas engine, the combination of a cylinder, a piston, and a piston valve, said piston valve-adapted to be adjusted with respect to said piston while the engine is running, whereby to vary the compression space, and means for varying the quantity of mixture taken into said cylinder.

" 19. In a gas engine, the combination of a cylinder, a piston, and. a piston'valve, said piston valve adapted to be adjusted with respect to said piston, whereby to vary the compression space, means for varying the quantity'of mixture taken into said cylinder, and manually-controlled means for automatically producing proportional variations between the compression space and the quantity of mixture taken into said cylinder.

Inwitness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name.'

EUGENE V. MYERS. 

